Thanksgiving Day
Kendra stood in the Long Branch, feeling out of place, and knowing more than before that the decision she’d made was the right one.
The place was hopping with Brands and McIntyres, all of them happy and smiling and beautiful and good. People were carrying piping hot dishes from the kitchen to the long tables set up in the dining room. There were immaculate linen tablecloths all patterned in russet leaves and cornucopias. There were centerpieces of sunflowers, yellow mums and burgundy carnations. The place settings were perfect, with colorful cloth napkins in mustard yellow. The area near the front windows had been cleared of tables. Tomorrow, Kiley told her, they’d put up a Christmas tree there.
Dax hadn’t arrived yet. Kendra was nervous about seeing him again. She had barely exchanged three sentences with him in the days since Diana’s birth in the woods. She’d been busy with her father in the hospital, with her sister and new niece. He’d been busy, too, making a deal with the New York State attorney general. His mother wasn’t going to be prosecuted. In exchange, she and Dax were cooperating fully with the state in its prosecution of Vester Caine. They’d turned over the books, and the track’s bookkeeper had been arrested. Vester was in custody, and Phil was in a hospital, but handcuffed to the bed. Chief Jimmy swore Kendra had fired her weapon in self-defense. No one questioned it.
Ace was still at large.
Kiley said Dax was coming to dinner, but Kendra was a little afraid that he wouldn’t. His mother was there, though, with Luis Mendosa. They seemed completely in love. Miss Dolly and Ned could barely keep their hands off each other. Everyone was mingling, nibbling appetizers and the piano was playing them a selection of old timey holiday music.
When Vidalia came out of the kitchen with a picture perfect roasted turkey on a platter, and her husband Bobby Joe came out behind her with another, the oohs, ahhs and praise were universal. And then they were all gathering around the giant tables.
“Oh, we can’t begin yet,” Miss Dolly said. “Not everyone is here.”
“They are now.”
It was Dax!
Kendra couldn’t help the relief that rushed through her at the sound of his voice, or the shiver of awareness up her spine. She turned toward the batwing doors way past the open red velvet curtains, and then blinked in surprise. Dax was pushing a wheelchair, and her father was its passenger. They were both dressed in suits and ties and they were both smiling.
“Jack?” Kendra asked.
“Dad!” Kiley shouted, and they both went to the doorway to greet him.
“Hello girls.” Jack flashed his dimples around the room. “Thank you for the invitation Miz Vidalia.”
Dax had hold of Kendra’s eyes and wouldn’t let go. The conversation, the greetings, were happening all around them. But they were apart from all of it.
“You’re family, Jack,” Vidalia said. “You don’t need an invitation, but I wasn’t sure you knew that yet.”
Jack spotted Rob holding the baby while Kiley was hugging his neck and asking how he got out a day sooner than planned. He didn’t really answer. Instead he said, “If it’s okay with everyone, I’d really like to have a word with my granddaughter.”
“And I’d like to have word with you, Kendra,” Dax said. His voice was all hoarse. “Outside, if that’s okay?”
She looked at him frowned. “Actually, I need to talk to you too.”
She grabbed her jacket from a hook, and he opened the door for her. They stepped out into the parking lot, him hobbling on one crutch. He said, “Your sister tells me you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“I wasn’t going without saying goodbye to you first,” she said. “I just…it’s been….”
“I know.”
“I was gonna pick Jack up on the way, take him with me. Didn’t expect this.”
“He’s not going,” Dax said.
Kendra blinked, stunned. “What, now? What do you mean, he’s not going?”
“We had a long talk, your dad and me. He said he saw your mother, during that time when his heart wasn’t beating. Said she told him to get his ass back here and be a good grandfather to her namesake.”
She frowned. “He didn’t…tell me any of that.”
“He will. When he’s ready. He’s still…processing it, I think. Point is, he says he’s going straight. Moving back here to Big Falls to be with his family.”
She turned in a slow circle, tipped her head back, closed her eyes. “He can’t do that.”
“He can if he wants. It’s a free country. And I don’t know how you’re can leave Kiley to ride herd on him all by herself. Do you?” He touched her shoulders, turned her to face him again. He was looking at her like he was trying to memorize her face.
“I’ll make him see sense,” she said. “We can come and visit.”
“Well, you know, that’s between you and your father, I guess.”
She nodded, and decided the moment had come. She pulled her keys out of her jacket pocket and held them out.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“I’m paying you back,” she said. “The ‘Vette’s worth way more than half of what I took you for. Maybe three quarters. But I’m gonna pay back the rest, too.”
He nodded, took the keys from her. “That’s way more than enough.”
She nodded. She’d expected him to argue harder. But it didn’t matter. She’d intended make him take it, even if he did.
“I’m staying in Big Falls too.” He put her keys in his pocket, fiddled around in there for a second. “There’s a place for sale five miles west of town that’s exactly what I want. I’m buying it. Gonna put in a track, train horses there.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s great, Dax. I can really see that for you.”
“Can you see it for you?”
She lowered her head, unable to hold his eyes. “I can’t. Dax, I’m not good enough for this town, or that baby in there, or even my own sister anymore. And I’m nowhere near good enough for you.”
“I’ve said that about myself a million times. That I’m not good enough for you.” He took a deep breath. “But here’s the thing. I know you, Kendra Kellogg. I know you better than you know yourself. I saw your face out there, delivering little Diana. It was the face of an angel.”
“An angel who almost got my whole family killed.”
“You didn’t do that. Jack did that, and let me tell you, he regrets it to his bones. Something profound happened to your father in that cabin, Kendra. It changed him. I think all of this has changed you, too. And I think you know it, deep down, and you’re just too scared to trust that it’s for real. That it will last.”
She nodded, recognizing truth when she heard it. “You’re right. You’re right, I am afraid of that. And afraid of what it would do to you, and to my poor sister, if I tried and failed. And what about Diana? What if I make her love me, make her trust me, and then I fail miserably? What if—”
“And what if you don’t? What if you succeed? What if you would’ve succeeded, but you’re too scared to even try? Wouldn’t that be the real tragedy?”
She lowered her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to be sure of anything.”
“No one is ever sure what’s going to happen in the future, Kendra. You can only be sure of the present. This one moment. All you can be is here, now. Any one of us could be gone tomorrow. If this whole experience taught us anything, it should be that. We have to make the most of every single day of our lives. Don’t you believe that?”
She frowned. “I…I do. I do believe that.”
“That’s a start. Now let’s try one more. Which is more important? Love or fear?”
“L-love?”
“Yeah, love. You love your sister. You love Diana. You even love that rascal, Jack. How can you just walk away from all that love by choosing fear instead?”
Kendra lowered her head. She paced a few steps away from him, and then a few steps back.
“You love me, Kendra. I know you do. I can see it in your eyes, and I can feel it every time you touch me. You love me. You love me as much as I love you, and that’s a helluva lot.”
He hobbled closer, touched her chin, tipped it up. “Deny it. I dare you.”
And then before she could say anything, he kissed her. He kissed her long and slow and so tenderly that tears leaked from her eyes, slid down her cheeks and salted their lips. He lifted his head and said, “I love you, Kendra Kellogg.”
“I…love you too,” she admitted.
“I’m not gonna let you fail.”
She smiled through tears. “What, you have super powers or something?”
“I have magic,” he said. “Wanna see?”
Sniffling, she nodded. “Sure.”
He looked up at the sky. “Which one’s your favorite star?” She just frowned at him and he said, “Just pick one. You want to see magic or not?”
She knuckled her wet cheek, and pointed at the brightest star in sight.
“Good choice.” Dax reached up, stretching his long arm out. He mimicked plucking the star from the sky, lowered his fisted hand, and then opened it, palm up. A diamond ring rested there.
Awkwardly, and painfully, he dropped to one knee while she was still blinking in shock.
“There’s no other woman for me, Kendra. You’re all I want, all I’ve ever wanted. I love you. I want us to build a life together right here in Big Falls. I want spend the rest of my life showing you how good you really are. And I’d kind of like to be Diana’s official uncle.”
She looked down at him for a long moment.
“Get out of your head, woman. Just be in the moment. What do you want to do, right now?”
“I want to say yes,” she said.
“Then say it.”
Her lips pulled into a smile. “Yes. I’ll marry you.” She helped him upright and he slid that ring onto her finger, swept her into his arms and kissed her, bending her backward over his arm.
A cheer went up from nearby, and they jumped apart, startled.
Dozens of happy faces were peering out through the big front windows. The window opened. Vidalia leaned out and said, “Congratulations, you two. Now, can we please eat before my perfect turkey dries up and blows away?”
#
As they sat among their family, passing dishes around the table, Vidalia said, “I’ll go first,” and she winked at Kendra. “Family tradition. Ahem. I am thankful for this family, and how it keeps growing and expanding and bringing joy and love into my life.”
Ned spoke up next. He was sitting next to Miss Dolly, and he gazed right into her eyes and said, “I’m thankful for the most charming lady I’ve ever met, and that she has family here in Big Falls now, giving her an excuse to stick around.”
Dolly winked at him. “I didn’t need any excuse, once I set eyes on you, Ned.”
Rob said, “I’m thankful for my two girls, Kiley and Diana. I don’t think any man’s ever been so blessed.”
“I have,” Joey said. “I’ve got two fine girls myself to be thankful for.”
“I’m thankful for my new cousin!” Matilda Louise sang. “I’m gonna teach her everything! How to braid hair, how to paint her toenails, how to ride a pony!”
“You don’t know how to ride a pony,” Emily told her daughter.
“First, I’ll learn, then I’ll teach Diana.” She turned to her father very seriously. “So I’m really gonna need a pony for Christmas this year.”
Everyone laughed.
Caroline said, “I’m grateful that there’s a wedding to plan!” Then gazing at Luis, “And that I have someone I love to dance with at the reception.”
Jack cleared his throat, and everyone looked his way. He’d aged, Kendra thought. He was pale, seemed frail sitting in that wheelchair. But his blue eyes were still just as sparkling, and his dimples, just as deep.
“I’m thankful for a second chance,” he said. “I’m thankful that my girls led me back here. This is a special town. My wife always said so. I’m gonna be a better grandfather than I was a father.” He shrugged. “That’s not saying much, I guess. I was a pretty bad father. But I’m gonna really try to do this grandpa thing up right. And I’m thankful to have two strong, smart daughters who’ll kick me in the nu—” Everyone gasped. “Knuckles,” he went on. “If I mess up.”
Kendra nodded. For the first time, she believed Jack was serious. She took a breath, and took her turn. “I’m thankful for more than I can even list. For all of you in this room, and how you welcomed me back here when you knew what I’d been. For my sister and my precious niece. For my dad, surviving what should’ve done him in. And for Dax Russell, a guy who believes in me more than I believe in myself.” She looked Dax right in the eye. “You make me want to live up to that belief. And sitting here with all of you, I’m starting to think I can.”
Dax raised his glass. “Happy Thanksgiving,” he said. And then he slipped her car keys, into her lap under the table and leaned close to whisper, “Engagement present.”
Everyone held up their glasses, even the children, and chorused, “Happy Thanksgiving!”
Kendra touched her glass to Dax’s and gazed into his eyes. “The happiest ever,” she said softly.
“Only so far,” he replied.
–THE END–
Look for book 5 in the McIntyre Men series
Baby By Christmas.
Continue reading for an excerpt from book 1 of The Oklahoma Brands
The Brands Who Came for Christmas.